Two set-piece goals and a late injury time effort sealed a 3-0 win for West Ham against Sheffield United as they climbed above Liverpool into fifth and move two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
A Declan Rice penalty, Issa Diop header and Ryan Fredericks strike sealed the victory as Sheffield United’s relegation woes continued.
West Ham boss David Moyes was forced to make several enforced changes to his starting XI with Angelo Ogbonna and Andriy Yarmolenko picking up injuries in West Ham’s FA Cup fifth-round defeat at Manchester United.
Manuel Lanzini, Ben Johnson and Diop all made the starting line-up too despite limited appearances for the trio this season.
Sheffield United were without key man John Fleck who missed the game through illness.
Going into the match, the Blades had seen a recent upturn in form and were looking for vengeance in a long standing rivalry that dates back to 2007.
There was a great early chance for West Ham to score from a free-kick after a cynical foul from Ben Osborn on Jarrod Bowen just outside the penalty box.
Rice stepped up but his low strike was saved by Blades goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale who palmed the ball out towards the edge of the box.
Craig Dawson was first to the ball, but a foul by Enda Stevens resulted in the referee pointing to the spot.
The foul was checked by VAR and, despite the referee making the correct call, Dawson was found to be offside in the build up.
Despite West Ham looking dangerous in the early stages, the Blades seemed to be causing the Hammers problems down the left-hand side.
Midway through the first half, Sheffield United were caught out in the 25th-minute by a West Ham counter-attack. The Yorkshire club committed too many men forward leaving space in behind for Jesse Lingard to carry the ball and force a save from Ramsdale.
Osborn continued to threaten down the visitors’ left-hand side putting in several crosses and linking up well with striker David McGoldrick.
However, it was soon a familiar story for Sheffield United as they fell behind. A quick West Ham counter-attack through Bowen, Lanzini and Lingard resulted in the latter one-on-one with Ramsdale before being taken out by centre back Chris Basham.
It was an obvious foul from Basham as the referee pointed to the spot for a second time in the half.
There was no need for a VAR review this time though and West Ham captain Rice calmly slotted his penalty into the bottom left corner to give them a 1-0 lead on 41 minutes.
Sheffield United had a brilliant chance to equalise after a cross from their wide left was met by the head of McGoldrick, who forced a spectacular close-range save from West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
After a great start to the second half by the away side the Hammers doubled their lead through a Diop header.
It was the Frenchman’s first goal in a year and it came about when his glancing header crept in at the far post after a pinpoint delivery from Aaron Cresswell’s corner.
On the hour mark McGoldrick had a fantastic chance to get the away side back into the game, after the ball was cut back to him just 10 yards from goal, but his shot deflected off Tomas Soucek for a corner.
Just five minutes later it was that man McGoldrick again with another chance. Osborn once again crossed from the left but the Irishman’s header landed in the arms of Fabianski.
Vladimir Coufal had a perfect chance to put the game beyond all doubt 20 minutes from time for the hosts, with the Czech international finding himself one-on-one with Ramsdale after an interception. The young English keeper was off his line quickly to spread himself, making a terrific save at his near post with an outstretched left hand.
Things got worse for the visitors when a stoppage in play was enforced as John Egan was carried off on a stretcher following a coming together with Lingard as the defender attempted to block the latter’s shot.
Late in the game Said Benrahma and Fredericks replaced Lingard and Johnson with the two substitutes combining late in injury time for West Ham’s third goal.
The Algerian winger laid the ball back to Fredericks, who was hesitant to shoot at first, but after a touch to set himself the former Fulham full back fired low into the bottom left corner and past Ramsdale.
Sheffield United have now failed to score in a match for the 12th time this season and now sit 14 points from safety with 14 game remaining.
Meanwhile for West Ham the win is their sixth in their last 10 matches as Moyes’ men leapfrog Liverpool in the table with a top-four spot in sight.
